Koehler, Weber State men’s basketball tune up in 118-35 win over Northwest Indian College
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- Weber State senior wing Dyson Koehler shoots a 3-pointer against Northwest Indian College on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State center Alex Tew dunks against Northwest Indian College on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Marko Sarenac (10) grabs a rebounds against Northwest Indian College on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Trevor Hennig (6) shoots a 3-pointer against Northwest Indian College on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
OGDEN — Dyson Koehler had what has been a minor setback in the leadup to his fifth and final college basketball season, needing a procedure to tune up the solution to his splanchnic vein thrombosis discovered two years ago.
That kept the Weber State men’s basketball wing from playing in either of his team’s exhibition games, but it was hard to tell in Monday night’s season opener.
Koehler shot 6 of 7 from the 3-point line, totaled 22 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes, and the Wildcats set a record for largest margin of victory in program history with a 118-35 victory over the visiting Eagles at the Dee Events Center.
“I’m good physically. There are little moments where I got tired … but other that, I was good, ready to roll,” Koehler said. “I was excited to play … it’s a blessing to play basketball, so it was fun to be out there.”
Leading 54-15, Koehler made a 3, scored on a give-and-go layup, then made another triple to send the Wildcats to the locker room with a 62-15 lead.
“What he goes through is hard and he keeps himself in incredible shape all year long,” WSU head coach Eric Duft said. “Never rests, so that something like this happens and he has to go and have a procedure done, he’s able to bounce back quickly because he’s in great shape … it was good to see him get out there.”
NWIC battled to a 15-7 deficit in the first five minutes before Weber State streaked to a 27-0 run to lead 42-7 with 9:15 left in the first half. The Wildcats never looked back from there against the team from Lummi Nation in Bellingham, Washington, who will also play Montana and Montana State this season.
“I want to thank Northwest Indian College,” Duft said. “What’s happened in these Division I games, we can’t get them scheduled because of the transfer portal; nobody wants to schedule games until all the rosters are set so we’re working into September to schedule games … they were gracious enough to come on opening night.”
Sophomore guard Viljami Vartiainen scored 17 points and made his first five 3-pointers. Senior guard Blaise Threatt added 14 points and seven assists, and senior guard Miguel Tomley added 12 points.
Before Vartiainen missed his final two 3-point attempts, he, Tomley and Koehler were a combined 15 of 18 from distance. Weber State finished 19 of 36 as a team, with junior forward Nigel Burris and redshirt freshman Nemenja Sarenac each knocking down a pair of triples.
Duft praised his point guards for their play; Threatt and Saadiq Moore (five assists in 17 minutes) combined for 12 assists and one turnover.
Sarenac scored nine points. Freshman center Declan Cutler added eight points and 10 rebounds, while Burris had eight rebounds. Moore and senior center Vasilije Vucinic each grabbed seven rebounds.
Freshman guard Trevor Hennig pitched in four assists and Tomley had three. All 13 players who took the court scored, including two points from walk-on guard Andrew Younan. Weber shot 46 of 78 (59%) overall and totaled 28 assists. No WSU player played more than 20 minutes.
Weber State next hits the road for three straight games, starting with Oregon State on Friday before playing at Nevada (Nov. 13) and at Hawaii (Nov. 17).
